EMMANUEL Macron could be replaced by a French Army General as tensions between the French President and the so-called "yellow vests" fail to subside, claimed former MEP Daniel Cohn-Bendit.

Speaking to Euronews, the former Green MEP claimed the French right-wing parties will be the real winners of the deadly Paris riots as French President Emmanuel Macron faces calls of resignations. Mr Cohn-Bendit claimed the violent protests will have a knock-on effect on the May 2019 European elections and facilitate a victory of the far-right in Strasbourg.

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He said: “History has shown us that such a crisis, a social crisis - it was the same in Germany in the 30s, that was a big crisis and there was big unemployment, and the communists thought it would go to the left, it would go towards socialism. It didn’t.

“Never, ever, ever, such social crises go to the left. It always goes to the right.

“And look, what was the first political proposition from a lot of people who were speaking for the movement?

“They ask that General Pierre de Villiers becomes French President.

Macron could be replaced by Army General amid yellow vests protest escalation, claims former MEP (Image: EURONEWS•GETTY)

They ask that General Pierre de Villiers becomes French President

Daniel Cohn-Bendit

“They want a General at the top of the country.

“Is this a left proposition?”

Left-wing groups in the French Parliament are also trying to make of the situation an opportunity to overthrow the French President from his position as they discuss launching a vote of no-confidence in the Government.

First Secretary of the Socialist Party Olivier Faure wrote on Twitter: “We’ve decided to work together to file a no-confidence vote [to the government] next Monday. During the coming days, we will seek to increase the number of signatories. We have to show that other ways are possible.”

The first “yellow vest” demonstrations – so-called because of the high-visibility jackets all French motorists must carry in their vehicles – were held to contest planned fuel tax increases, but have since evolved into a broader protest movement against Mr Macron, who is accused of turning a blind eye to the rising cost of living that has left many struggling to make ends meet.

The “yellow vest” revolt caught Mr Macron unawares when it erupted on November 17, and has left him scrambling to respond to and defuse the deepest crisis of his presidency.

Four people have died and dozens have been injured in the rallies, which opinion polls suggest still attract the support of around two out of three French people.

On Tuesday, his centrist government caved in and surrendered to the rioters, announcing a six-month suspension of the fuel tax increase – but not a scuttling of it – in response to the violent protests, which are now in their third week.

However, the measure is seen as “too little, too late” by many protesters whose anger is increasingly focused on the embattled centrist.

“The French don't want crumbs, they want the whole baguette,” Benjamin Cauchy, one of the movement's organisers, told AFP, although he welcomed what he called “a first step” towards a “redistribution of wealth in France”.